Out of Left Field

This is a complete one-eighty from the previous post, prompted by today’s Very Short List: Brooklyn illustrator James Blagden has created a short animated film, Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No. It documents a 1970 Major League Baseball game when Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, stoned out of his gourd on LSD and benzedrine, throws a no-hitter. The clip features audio of Ellis describing the experience, plus bits from the radio play-by-play of the game. Ellis’ teammates, knowing he’s high, chastise a rookie on the team who (in direct violation of baseball superstition) tells Ellis he’s working on a “no-no.” The story’s compelling and the animation’s spot-on.